Device for cleaning wells



l L. H. SARGENT. DEVICE FOR CLEANING WELLS. APPLICATION FILED OCT- 29,1918.

Patented SeiIt. 2

fr /ZZ t/grwwwdfoaa ZM/Z5 l. NVT? II|III|I|I..|\II|V|\I\\\I \\H\\\ atmuup UNITED STATES PATENT oEEicE.

-I lLammer. 1r. SABGENT, oF rom: Worum, TEXAS.

'- "DEvIcE non. CLEANING WELLS.

To all'wkom t may concern:

Be it known that I,- LEMUEL H. SARGENT,

l a citizen ofthe United States, residing at the production is practically Fort Worth, in the county of Tarrant and `State off Texas, `have invented a newand useful Device `for Cleaning Wells, of which thefollowingis a specication.

The'subje'c'tl of this invention is a'n auto7 matic self adjusting device for cleaning wells and is adapted more especially forv cleaning Artesian wellsy and oil wells, which havebecoine clogged' and because of which or entirely stopped, and restorin 'the original production of such wells, a so in reclaiming gas duction thereb being cut off. I

The main object of th cleaner--the positive operation of 'which is Specification of Letters Patent.

'wells which have become flooded, the pro- 'invent'o'nf is :the y 1 provision of an automaticselfadjusting welly attained and secured by thelongitudinal ram this device 4 for surface ofthe screen or strainer, with the same in position 1n the well and also to removement of the automatic self adjusting movable collar to which one end'of the eXible packer is attached, I'thereby permitting the walls of the exible packer, when under pressure, to distend without danger yof rupv ture, and to engage the inner walls of the screen or strainer immediately adjacent particular portion of the screen or 'strainerthereto, Vthereby efectually plugging thatl thereby providing a method by theuse ofv termined points.

AnotherobJect of the invention and device, is to provide amethod yfor correctly regulating the pressure applied to thedef` vice for plugging such wells, in*4 order to properly operate and use such cleaner. f y Another object of the invention and dei,

vice is t vprovide a method forintroducing iuids into the .wellor wells, and controlling uids underpressure to. predetermined parts, or locations in the well, and tocontrol and regulate the pressure thereby applied plugging the Well at prede 1A and directin lthe 'course of fluid used to clean or was wells, and to deliver y saidand t o remove obstructions and, accretions of all kinds such as, paraffin, asphalt, sand,

shale, and other hard or gummy substances from the interstices, and fromthe outside y move and clean out all debris left from the z drilling 'or boring of the well which may have settled to the bottom of the well and also to remove such part vof the formation Patent-.eu sept. 2, l1919.

Application 'led October 29, 1918. Serial No. 260,116.

surrounding the screen or strainer as may tend to crumble and fall in thereby clogging the screen or strainer and preventing the mgress of fluids throughthe interstices of 4the screen or strainer and into lthe bore of the Well.

Another object of the invention or device 1s to discover the formation of any strata encountered or found in the process of drilling or boring for` oil,.or` gas. Another `objectof the invention or device is to con- Atrol or prevent the passage of iuids or gases -fromV one stratum to another in the formation, while drilling or `boringfor oil, or

gas, andl also to separate and cut o any `stratum or strata in thel formation from'the y balance of the well and thereby control'the .production o'f such stratum or strata.

Thel invention and device also contemplates vgenerally improving the construction of, and increasing the range of operat1on" and enhancing the utility of ywell cleaners.,

With the lforegoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the com.- bination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and-claimed, it being understood ithatxchanges in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made withnthe scope of what is claimed without departing.from the spirit of the invention.

`; Apiictical'structure for carrying out the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Flgure 1'-1s a fragmentary view 1n vertical,

f longitudinal-section of a well casing, with .a'cleanerconstructed in accordance with the invention in place therein;

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the cleaner, the

Vflexible packer removed, taken on the line Fig.,4 is a detail view in longitudinal secl of tlsescreen or Vstrainer and fromjthe interv terfering with or entirelyrcutting o'the,

proper flow of liquid into the Well. It vthen becomesV necessar in order to restore the production of suc wellsto remove such obstructions and accretions from the outside sticesl or openings through' the screen or strainer in order to permit the free entrance'-. of the fluids through the screen or stralnen into the well and V'by so doing restore the production of the said well.

. perforated section.- The section'25 is.like wise provided with slots,y 26, formed lon'gi V f itudinally thereof, and Vthis ysection-'Lis en-; circled by a' flexible covering,V the YendsV ofl which are fastened in place onlthe section 'Threaded into the coupl'ng 1 3 'is a fixed tubular section 14, forming the body onf thedevice and provided with longitudinal lslots 15, herein Yshown asthree in number, Sur- 1 rounding the sectionisa covering of flexible material 16,w'hich isvwrappe'd around sec-' tion 14 and is firmly attached to the Vsta. tiona-ry. endof the said sectionk -14 by an encircling clamp 17, or other suitable-means@ The movable end of the leXible covering 16,v is fastened andV attachedto a movable collar 18, in the-same manner as the stationary end is attached, thus forming a flexible packer,"-

' l. and it issocalledlhereinafter. v#The collar 18 moves freely on ashort tubular sectionzf' 20,-Which is threaded intothe lower end offsection 14, which forms the stop to the upf ward movement'of the collar 18.v

Coupledto.. the lower end of the section 2O` by means of a coupling 21 or' otherwise is a. perforatedfsection 22,. the perforations. of Which 'mayl be -closed Vby screw4 plugs23vv or vlikefmeans. Suchl'perforations vas :rnay `'be" f l y necessary-are closedgby. the plugs 23 `for the Vpurp'oseof regulating and controlling the amountofA flo-w of the liquid Vfrom section 21v through thel perforationsand by so doing., regulating-and controlling the pressure inV the space inclosedbetween section l14 and," covering or packer 16, whichpressurefcauses' the flexible packer 16 to adjustitself bel tween fthebody of the cleanerA 14, and thef inside :walls of the screen or' strainer, and-j v thus prevent `anyreturiri of, lu'id, used `be'-,` tween the inside walls of, the screen or strainer andthe flexible packer 16. f Av coupling 24, threaded on thexlwer of the perforated section. 22, servestol sef cure a short section 25 in Yplace below theby means orv clamps V28,'orotherwise,"4 The packer27 isformed of flexible material so that, when luidis introduced intol the 'mally held upon its seat'byaconipression `spring31which isfhoused by a coupling 32, which vcoupling is threadedv on the .lower end l of the section 25. The'compression-spring the passage-oiliquid from-the tubing into 1owS=-- v When awellisto belcleaned, ythe cleaner f is attached to a string of pipe and lowered Y yin tol the well. -By means"@lbfay forcepumpj atthe topfofthe well,oil,waterggasolene, i' 111, steam or the like is forced throughithe pipe` cleaner andl placed under pressure in Vthe screen or strainer, it will distend and vengage the sidesof the vscreen or strainer 11 to prevent the passage of fluid between the screen or strainer 11 and flexible packer 27.` l

.formed with a head 28in .which isy an aperture 29 closed by a valve 30, herein shown asa'back pressure valve.v The valve 3() is norf 31 yis seated on the headedvend 3 3 cfa perforated bull plug 34,1 the. perforations of which may be closedby"plugs=35, for the purposeherein set`-fo rth. The bull plug 34 I isqthreaded into the coupling 32 and its end 33 is provided witlian opening 33 -to allow l1 plug34.

allow." vthe passagelof 'iuidf A'bolt 36 is.

head of the. bolt, and thevalve 30.- and serves to thevalve upon vits seat. yY 'The operationfpf and into'thecle'anen VVVhenv'the iuidenterssection 14 of the cleaner-,fitwill pass' against the v inner wall fof" the-"screenpr strainer andA completely dividing that partI 1 6- is attached.v Withthe proper number o fi forced through? the perforationsl in" Vthel to va 'fp oint above l{that} portion of l.the screen' a or strainer which is packed off and plugged bythe flexible pakers island e7, ansehen flow' upwardlyandom over thetop' oi thel130 70 The lowerend of the short section 25 is modified "formlfofvalve shown in ese'ction is' formed with a head 428g- 1N ichisfprovided-withapertures 29' to 90 threac'led-into -thej-head28 anda valve 30 v v 'encircles'and isslidablei'on thisr bolt.,y TheV`Y bolt is. encircled by vl`a. o oiled compression spring. 31" which is l confined I'between the deviceis as folv 4-v` through the slots 15, into thegspaceinclosed" vbetween thesection 14'f andjth'ej flexible i. packer 16, distending and `forcing theQpacker-:

of thewell belowthecleaner'from'theupper vvv'part or'portion ;this result issecuredin thisI deViC' bythe movementof the ,collar 18, to 'Which-the: lower `end of the flexible packer I 115." perforations pluggedthe pressure Within the"V pipeandv cleaner lcan be: so regulated andffg] Vcontrolled vthat' thev pressure of the fluid on' v- {the/outside ofthe vcleuier,v vhich L is being 120'- screen or` strainer-willnot be suliicient to' :crush in4 the.` fiexible lpackersfl and The VHuid which is expelled from the peri-"1 ;forations'of thecleaner and forced` .through the perforations in.. the screen or l strainerwill return outsideof vthe screen' or strainerf casing. This operation will effectually clean out and remove vall foreign substances and accretions from the well, screen or strainer, both from the interstices and the outside of the well, screen or strainer and carry them by return flow of Huid over the top of the casing and out of Ithe well.

When it is desired to cut off a certain section of the lower part of the well, as when wateiris flowing from below into a gas well, that part of the cleaner above the short Vsection may be removed and theI section 25 coupled directly to the string of pipe. The device is then lowered to a position below the gas stratum and above the water stratum. A specially prepared cement, or like substance, is then forced through the pipe to distend the flexible packer 27 against the walls of the well and be forced through valve 30, which valve will revent upward How of the cement or other liquid when pressure from above is relieved. Thepipe may then be unscrewed from the section 25, leaving it in the well which, with the cement, will effectually plug the well.

From the foregoing it will readily be apparent that the flexible packer 16, because of' the movement of the collar 18, is protected from rupture under the pressure of the fluid and is permitted to seat firmly against the inside wall of the screen'or strainer,

thus preventing the return of any of' the fluid used between the4 flexible Vpacker 16 and the insideof the screen 11. This effectually 'packs off and plugs the screen or lstrainer at the desired place.

1. A well cleaner including a fixed, slotted tubular member having an outlet, a `tubular member connected to the lower end of the xed member, a collar lining with thefixed grade movement of the collar, which move ment, when pressurey is relieved, automati-I 'cally releases the packer, a perforated tubular member coupled to the lower yend of the lower. tubular member, and means for closing such of said perforations as may be necessary to control the pressure of the fluid by which 'the cleaner is operated.

2. A well cleaner, composed of tubular members, an automatic flexible acker connected therewith, a perforated tubular member coupled thereto, means for closing such perforations-a coupling attached to the perforated tubular member, an automatic flexible packer for connection with the coupling, the same provided with a discharge orifice, a valve normally closing the discharge orifice, a perforated cap below saidorifice and means for regulating the discharge of fluid through the cap.

3. A well cleaner, including a tubular member provided with openings, a sleeve encircling the member and overlying the openings and having one end Secured to the member,. means slidable longitudinally of the member for connecting the other end of the sleeve thereto, the said member having an outlet, and means for regulating the passage of fluid through the outlet.

'ItI

4. A well cleaner, including a tubularj` member provided with openings, a flexible sleeve encircling the member and' overlying the openings, one end of the sleeve secured to the member, a collar slid'able on the member, means for connecting the other 'end of the sleeve to the collar, the said member having an outlet, and means for regulating the passage of fluid through the outlet.

A well cleaner, including a tubular member provided with o enings, a flexible sleeve' encircling the mem er and overlying the openings, means for binding the ends of the sleeve to the member, the member provided with a discharge orifice, a perforated bull-plug secured to the member, and means for regulating the discharge of fluid through the plug. ,t

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aliixed my signature in the presence of two witnes's.

LEMUEL H. SARGENT.

' vWitnesses:

PnvuoN E. WADE, P. E. GLENN. I 

